Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday introduced three bills in Lok Sabha to provide a legal framework for the removal of the Prime Minister, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and Ministers in States and union territories who are “arrested and detained in custody on account of serious criminal charges.”
Shah tabled the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, to further amend the Constitution of India and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, apart from the bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
The union minister proposed to refer these three bills to a joint committee of Parliament. Lok Sabha passed the resolution to refer the Bills introduced by Amit Shah to the Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC)
As soon as the bill was tabled, the Opposition members began protests and trooped into the well, raising slogans, as some of them tore copies of the bill.
Opposition MPs, including AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress’ Manish Tewari and K C Vengopal, spoke against the introduction of the Bills, terming the proposed law against the Constitution and federalism.
“This government is hell-bent on creating a Police State. This will be the final nail in the coffin of elected governments. The Indian Constitution is being amended to turn this country into a police state. The Chief Minister and the Ministers will not be accountable to the people,” Owaisi added.
Shah rejected criticism that the Bills were brought in haste and said that they would be sent to the Joint Committee of Parliament, where members of both Houses, including the Opposition, would get an opportunity to give their suggestions.
When Venugopal raised the issue of Shah’s arrest when he was Home Minister of Gujarat and asked about his claim of morality in politics, the senior BJP leader countered, saying he had resigned on moral grounds before his arrest and joined the government only after being discharged by the court.
“We cannot be so shameless that we continue to occupy constitutional positions while facing serious charges,” Shah said.
The Bill proposes that a minister in a state or at the Centre would cease to hold office if he/she is arrested and detained in custody for 30 days in a case carrying a punishment which may extend to five years’ imprisonment. However, the minister, including the chief minister or the Prime Minister, can tender a reason before the 31st day of arrest to avoid cessation.
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The legal framework is similar for ministers in states and Union Territories, at the Centre, as well as for chief ministers and the Prime Minister.
